THE TROOPS. 211 rout ; but they soon became accustomed to the noise, and, subsequently, paid but little attention to it, when they perceived no other effect than noise and smoke. The artillery men are all Turks, and when they are enlisted at Cairo no one questions what their prior occupation consisted in; it is, in fact, all the same whether they were shoemakers or tailors by trade, they are enrolled as artillery, and must, henceforth, act in that capacity.

The military, in general, have a great deal to suffer, for, besides being hated by the people, as the executioners of the cruel punishments to which the poor natives are frequently condemned by the government, they do not lead the most agreeable life themselves, inasmuch as they are only paid once a-year. They are obliged to serve for the term of their natural lives, and are nothing but slaves in the strictest sense of the word. If a man fall sick, he is, indeed, admitted into the hospital, but this is a perfect place of horror to the soldier, for, as soon as he enters the infirmary, he may make his will and prepare for his latter end, so few are fortunate enough to escape with their lives. It would really be more humane to allow the soldiers to cure themselves after their own fashion ; and I am convinced that the majority of those literally murdered by the doctors and apothecaries from sheer ignorance, would be yet living to put them to the blush. Before I was aware of the frightful mortality in the hospitals, I expressed my sorrow p2